Baia Pasta
431 Water Street, Oakland, CA 94607
This week we’re going across the Bay to Oakland to visit Baia Pasta’s small-scale operation located along the waterfront in Jack London Square. (Cleverly, Baia means “bay” in Italian). I used to live in Jack London Square for a couple of years when I first moved to the Bay Area. Both my wife and I, having Italian roots and coming from New York City, were more than excited when we first saw the sign for Baia Pasta go up in the neighborhood. Now I’m excited to have them be a part of this project. Va bene!
When I learned more about Renato Sardo and his partner Dario Barbone of Baia Pasta, I understood why their product is so good. From process to packaging, nothing is by chance. Baia Pasta was born when Renato learned that most of the wheat used by Italian pasta makers is actually grown in the US, yet it was nearly impossible to find quality dry pasta made here. Inspired by their roots in Piemonte, Italy, where food is a passion, all of the ingredients have been throughly thought through. They strongly believe in putting the Slow Food theory into practice: to provide people with delicious food that is good for them, good for the people who grow/produce it, and good for the Earth.
Pasta’s two main ingredients are flour and water. Being fortunate enough to be located in Oakland, home of the nation’s cleanest tap water, they have water quality on their side. The flour on the other hand is a little trickier and it took them 4 months to pick the right flours to extrude their pasta. All grown in the US, their wheats include: durum, whole durum, spelt, whole spelt and kamut khorasan.
I always wondered how they make all those cool little shapes and textures in pasta and I learned that all of their cuts are made with patterned plates, or brass dies. These are the molds in which the dough is pushed through to give pasta a particular shape. Baia Pasta only uses brass dies because of the desirable texture that they generate which allow sauces to adhere to their pasta. Another key step is drying the pasta slowly without excessive heat, which helps achieve the desired texture.
The packaging is also well designed, printed locally by Everett Graphics, with vegetable-based ingredients and on recycled paper with very little or no newspaper involved.
What a great company! Awesome product, environmentally conscious and friendly! If you find yourself in Jack London Square this week, stop in, pick up a box of pasta and grab this week’s art. Bravo, Baia Pasta! :)
From Baia Pasta
Baia Pasta specializes in brass-extruded pasta using only the finest organic flours from America, mostly from Utah, Montana, Colorado. We believe that American wheat is among the best in the world and are very proud to create the first pasta that glorifies all its features.
Hours of operation: Wednesday–Thursday 11:00am — 6:00pm, Sunday 9:30am — 4:00pm
Week 44 Art
“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti” — Sophia Loren
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